The Florida State Seminoles defeated the Auburn Tigers in the final national championship of the BCS era. But the road to Pasadena and the Rose Bowl was filled with experiences neither team will forget.More >>

The Florida State Seminoles defeated the Auburn Tigers in the final national championship of the BCS era. But the road to Pasadena and the Rose Bowl was filled with experiences neither team will forget.More >>

The end of the college football regular season only means one thing - that the college football bowl season is here. Starting on Dec. 21, 35 games will be played with 70 teams vying for one more win.More >>

The end of the college football regular season only means one thing - that the college football bowl season is here. Starting on Dec. 21, 35 games will be played with 70 teams vying for one more win in the 2013 season. Check out the schedule for each game here.More >>

Check out past matchups in an interactive map of the five bowl games of the Bowl Championship Series.More >>

Check out past matchups in an interactive map of the five bowl games of the Bowl Championship Series.More >>

NEWPORT BEACH, CA (RNN) - When Florida State beat Auburn in the national championship game, a double dose of reality hit - Florida State had closed out both the BCS system and the SEC's reign of dominance.

So what do we do while we're waiting for the College Football Playoff?

In the opinion of victorious FSU coach Jimbo Fisher, we should tread lightly, lest we stumble.

"Here's the thing about this playoff we need to be real careful about - when I was a child I remember who won the Sugar Bowl, who won the Orange Bowl, who won the Cotton Bowl, who won the Rose Bowl; it was a big deal to go," Fisher said during Tuesday morning's news conference for the game's winning coach. "We act like that's not important now. We're so involved in winning a championship that we're forgetting the history and tradition of doing things. How many times did the BCS get it wrong… We still got the same problem.

"You're going to argue over who's [ranked] 4 and 5 like you're going to argue about who's 2 and 3."

Fisher was looking at things from a coach's perspective. More games means less time for recruiting. It can force a coach's hand into playing a freshman he's trying to save with a redshirt season.

But Fisher also made arguments anyone should think about, no matter who they are. College players don't get to go home after practices and games. They go back to class.

Their bodies aren't as developed as professionals, and they'll be forced into a physical grind that only gets worse with more high-level games.

And then there are the fans. Under the current system, if they were fortunate enough to support a really successful team in a BCS conference, if they wanted to follow their team to a title, they had to go to a conference championship and then a national championship game.

Next season, they'll have to work a semifinal game into the equation of how best to spend their time and money. And following a college football team is no small financial commitment.

The reality, though, is that the College Football Playoff is not months away. It's already here.

The term "CFP" was thrown about the entire week leading up to Monday's game, as if people couldn't wait for the old, decrepit BCS to die off so the younger system could divvy up all the spoils.

There are already branding logos, promotional deals in the works and a whole bunch of other issues being ironed out even though we haven't got much of an idea what this thing will look like.

But one thing we know for certain is that there will still be the heated controversy that all college football fans love and the river of revenue that college presidents love even more.

What happens other than that - we'll just see what we see.

And just so you know, FSU's place in history as the team that played in the first and last BCS title games brought Fisher a fair amount of pride.

"It's kind of fitting to me," Fisher said. "I was in the SEC. They said we weren't good enough. It was Miami and Florida State every year. They had the teams, they were in it. You know, the Nebraskas, the Oklahomas. The SEC couldn't get in it.

"But I think it's very fitting that Florida State has come full-circle. We don't play in the SEC, but we play in the South, and we play good football. It's like the reckoning. Things are getting back in order again."

The Florida State Seminoles defeated the Auburn Tigers in the final national championship of the BCS era. But the road to Pasadena and the Rose Bowl was filled with experiences neither team will forget.More >>

The Florida State Seminoles defeated the Auburn Tigers in the final national championship of the BCS era. But the road to Pasadena and the Rose Bowl was filled with experiences neither team will forget.More >>

Tens of thousands of Auburn fans are making their way to Pasadena, California and the surrounding areas ahead of Monday's BCS National Championship game.Perhaps the biggest contingency of fans is comingMore >>

Tens of thousands of Auburn fans are making their way to Pasadena, California and the surrounding areas ahead of Monday's BCS National Championship game. Perhaps the biggest contingency of fans is coming on what's called "The BCS Bus"...More >>

Auburn BCS National Championship gear is already in the Capital City. Championship shirts, hats and more arrived at Academy Sports in Montgomery Thursday. The boxes are closed and won't be opened unlessMore >>

Auburn BCS National Championship gear is already in the Capital City.More >>

NEWPORT BEACH, CA (WSFA) - The city of Newport Beach, CA feels like home with Auburn and Florida State banners and welcome signs all around town in the week leading up to the BCS National Championship. EvenMore >>

The city of Newport Beach, CA feels like home with Auburn and Florida State banners and welcome signs all around town in the week leading up to the BCS National Championship.More >>